RICHMOND ART GALLERY presents

Wine, Coffee and Black:
Paintings by Tony Yin Tak Chu

This local artist’s solo exhibition is on display in the second floor lobby of the Gateway Theatre and features a selection of new paper drawings from his Mountain and Rivers series.

Tony Chu was born in China brought up in Hong Kong and currently resides in Richmond, British Columbia since March 1996. Of his work, Chu says "I am a mixed media painter, which means I use anything to create a piece of work. By rejecting the conventional media, such as oil and acrylic paints, I investigate the possibility of creating a different kind of painting in a contemporary world."

Wine, Coffee and Black is a group of mixed media drawings intended for WHODUNIt?, an annual fund raising event in Ontario. He says, "In order to explore different media and extend my portfolio, I expanded this series during the project. This set of drawings incorporate some fragmented images of architecture; they are either drawn or digitally transferred. The diminished images of houses target the shortage of housing projects for low income British Columbians, despite the speedy recovery of our economy. In terms of composition, by juxtaposing the traditional and more recognizable images (old houses) in the abstract environment (scribbling marks), tension is foiled between two different elements: abstraction and reality, tradition and the modern, the temporary and permanence . Finally, incorporating the more familiar images to confront with current environment, I investigate the possibility of creating a different kind of work in a contemporary world.

I feel good about this series, not because some of these works were secretly scribbled at my work place without my employer’s knowledge, but it was the sense of contribution that makes me feel good. Since funding cuts will become an everyday experience for Canadians, the recently announced arts funding cut in BC is a sign of our time."